Indonesia to extend foreigners' property use rights to 90 years+ Feb 25 02:40 AM US/Eastern
JAKARTA, Feb. 25 (AP) - (Kyodo)-The Indonesian government plans to extend foreign residents' right to use property to 90 years in an effort to attract more foreign investment, two local economic newspapers reported Wednesday. According to Bisnis Indonesia and Kontan dailies, the National Land Agency and the Office of the State Minister for Public Housing are in the process of revising a 1996 government regulation on property rights of foreigners. Under the current regulation, foreign residents' right to use property is limited to 25 years but can be extended for 25 years and then another 20 years. The dailies quoted Zulfi Syarif Koto, deputy public housing minister for formal housing, as saying the revision is urgent because "many foreigners are interested in investing and spending their old days here." Currently, due to limitations on foreign ownership of property in Indonesia, many expatriates prefer to buy property in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand where regulations are more favorable. Many of those who do buy property in Indonesia do so under the names of Indonesian citizens.
